Ecological Imperialism Essay

It took many years and a lot of factors to create the world we live in today. A factor many historians like to focus on is the idea of movement and how it contributed to the shaping of history. Timothy Brook’s Vermeer’s Hat and Alfred W. Crosby’s Ecological Imperialism are two works that delve into this idea of movement. Brook’s views trade and the exploration of the new world as being motivated by an obsession with China. While Crosby believes the migration of items and people was solely based on economic. Though different, through the exploration of both authors works, we will see the importance movement had on world history. In Vermeer’s Hat, Timothy Brook explained the movement of people and items as a means to fulfill the expanding

Firstly, Crosby focuses greatly on the idea that Europe succeeded in colonization because the climates in their colonies were similar to their own at home.[ Crosby] The similarities allowed for the growth of crops that were currently on the market and attracted settlers to populate these areas. If one was not going to be comfortable in the New World then why would one leave? The economic advantages that were foreseen in the colonies, especially in North America, brought a movement of people. Together they brought their culture and crops. By the early 1750s, Benjamin Franklin recorded there were about a million Britons in North America showing British North America was indeed a success.[ Crosby 296] This movement brought on by the economic advantages and adventure contributed to the establishment we see in North America today.[ Crosby 3] With western ideologies, a direct ancestral link to the Europeans their agricultural similarities show the effects movement had on American

The perfect example is the production of sugar during the 1450s. Sugar was a very popular sweetener and the power an external source would bring to a power would have major monetary benefits. European colonists did just that with the islands, specifically Madeira. The colonization of Madeira was rocky at first, trying out a few crops and animals before they hit the jackpot. It had the perfect conditions and in 1452, the Portuguese built the first water-driven sugar mill on the island.[ Crosby 77]Sugar production skyrocketed and by 1472 Madeira was producing more than 15,000 arrobas of it annually.[ Crosby 77] With the sugar industry growing naturally the population grew along with it, by the end of the century it contained 17,000 to 20,000 people.[ Crosby 77] The success in Madeira is only one of many success the Europeans had at colonization. Most of them ended up leading to economic growth for the countries involved, adding to the trade scene greatly. Economic stability at home and the need to remain that way fueled the many explorations out to find new land. Through this the “seams of Pangaea” once again began to reconnect.[ Crosby